Khanyi was amused by its adorable appearance, poking its damp little nose. “Hmph, you’re just like a little pig, wanting to sleep after eating.” It clearly didn’t like being disturbed, wrinkling its nose and turning its head away, its little body twisting into two bends as it lay on the messy towels, its little paws flipping up. She had no idea how it managed to do that.
“Shh, sleep now, sleep now.” Khanyi dragged the cardboard box to a corner of the hall, where it was warmer near the fireplace and could catch a bit of sunlight. “I’ll go back to my room for a nap.” She yawned; the past couple of nights had been exhausting with him, and she had been sleep-deprived.
After a lovely nap, she tidied herself up and came down from her bedroom to the hall, checking the cardboard box in the corner, only to find that “Teddy” was missing. She searched everywhere, almost combing through the entire house, but didn’t see the little figure.
Suddenly, she noticed the back door was open, seemingly left ajar by the servants moving something. A sense of foreboding washed over her; could it be that the little guy woke up and ran out? She immediately dashed to the backyard to look for it, and finally found it in the military dog’s cage.
She didn’t dare approach the cages of those large dogs that looked like wolves. As soon as she arrived at the kennel, those creatures alertedly bared their teeth at her. Not to mention their fierce teeth, even a mere swipe of their paws could crush “Teddy.” She could only seek help from him. She rushed into his office, disregarding the fact that he was in a meeting with several officers. She burst in, clearly catching him off guard with her impulsive action, staring at her as she entered. Ignoring the signals he was giving her, she stepped forward and grabbed his arm, almost crying out in panic, “Ryan! Oh my God, save him!”
“I’m sorry, gentlemen.” He gestured to an officer sitting across from him. “You take responsibility.”
She practically dragged him out, pulling him to the front of the dog cage. The strong military dogs couldn’t contain their joy at seeing their owner, rushing forward to bark and greet him. The iron bars rattled as they collided, and he made a gesture, then placed his finger to his lips, “Shh, quiet.”
The well-trained large dogs immediately quieted down, sitting on their hind legs, keeping their upper bodies upright, as if they were soldiers on guard, looking even more orderly than humans, except for their thick tails sweeping back and forth on the ground, panting and trying to please their owner.
“Please, get Teddy out! It’s going to get bitten to death!”
“Teddy? You mean that thing?” He squatted down, looking into the cage along the direction of her finger, where a white tuft of fur lay on the ground. He gently poked the pile of fur with his sword. “Dear, it seems like it’s asleep.”
“Asleep? How could that be?”
The puppy rolled over, opened its dazed eyes, and seemed to recognize its owner outside the cage, wagging its tail at her and squeezing through the bars. Khanyi immediately stepped forward to pick up the puppy, holding it up to her face, carefully checking for any injuries.
He couldn’t help but chuckle, pinching the puppy’s short ears between his fingers. “Is this the dog you’re raising? If this can be called a dog, it looks more like an Angora rabbit. But honestly, it seems to have quite good diplomatic skills.” He looked at the few military dogs still sitting upright in the cage and, using the training commands, issued a few short, crisp syllables, which were heard as a “relax” command. The dogs, as if under a spell, immediately returned to their usual carefree selves.
“Teddy” was uncomfortable being pinched by his fingers, and it nuzzled into Khanyi’s chest.
“You little lecher! That’s mine.” He snatched the puppy from her arms.
Khanyi glared at him; this man was so domineering, even getting jealous over a little dog. She snatched the squirming puppy back from his hands, which was scratching at his hand.
He looked at her, saying somewhat helplessly…He spread his fingers above his head to measure. “And there’s that Maltese dog that’s recently popular among upper-class women, with long hair covering its eyes.”
Khanyi tightly hugged “Teddy,” ignoring his recommendations. “No, I want to raise it. Even though my ‘Teddy’ isn’t that good-looking and doesn’t have any purebred lineage, its background is so pitiful, abandoned right after birth. No matter what, it’s still a life.”
“Well, fine, it’s up to you.” He shrugged.
Perhaps it was too small; it easily squeezed through the bars of the cage, naively thinking that these German Shepherds were its kind. But they didn’t see it as a dog at all, which kept it safe. As long as it didn’t steal their food, basically, Teddy could blend in among this group of German Shepherds. Moreover, Teddy was still nursing and couldn’t bite into those large, bloody pieces of beef.
